First a little information about us.
My name is Steven Lachowetz, my wife Mary lee and I are 50ish and married 30 years with no children. We live in the sleepy little town Of South Hadley in Western Massachusetts and spend our leisure time in the winter in Boca Raton, Florida, where we’ve made many great friends over the years. We recently sold our summer place in Brewster, MA, on Cape Cod to indulge our love of travel. We have traveled extensively, and our current favorite is cruising. We’ve sailed with Carnival, Princess, Celebrity and NCL cruise lines, primarily through the Carribbean. In the future we’re planning cruises to the Greek Islands, Hawaii, Tahiti and Bora Bora.
I’m the owner of a small business. You can find us at www.aldenvillerugcleaning.com and Mary Lee worked for many years as an Operating Room Technician at a local hospital.
While I’m mechanically inclined,I’ve never taken on a project like this. Hopefully we won’t be overwhelmed by it all. This is our first attempt at a restoration. We want not so much to end up with a 100-point show car, but with a solid, fun and reliable daily driver that’s as close to original as possible and that we can take to cruise nights, use for local travel and take on weekend getaways. In short, we want a car we can drive every day and not just park in a garage to look at.
We hope you enjoy following us through this adventure and hope you enjoy it as much as we do. Feel free to jump in at anytime with your comments, advice or encouragement. We look forward to your input.
Now a little history on the car
The car’s original owner was Morton Emerson Bunker, who was born in South Gouldsboro, Maine, and served as a general’s driver during the First World War. Eventually he settled in Newton Centre, MA, where he ran a hardware store.
Though not a college graduate, Morton lectured at Harvard University many times as an expert in economics. He warned his friends of impending economic doom in the late 1920’s, but they laughed at him. Many of his friends lost everything in the stock market crash of 1929. One friend lost the family company (Gillette). Morton came out of the 20’s a very wealthy man.
Morton and his wife Ann Cronin Bunker owned many Cadillacs over the years. His last being this 1958 Cadillac extended-deck sedan that he bought from Peter Fuller Cadillac in Boston, MA This car made many annual trips to Clearwater, Florida. Every year, as winter approached, Morton and his wife would leave Newton Centre and travel to South Hadley to pick up Ann’s sister Lillian. The three of them would take a week or so cruising south for the season.
Morton passed away on December 26, 1971. and this Cadillac, his last vehicle, was given to his great-niece’s husband Fran, the only avid antique car buff in the family. Though Fran never registered this great car, he lovingly stored this special vehicle until 2009 when it was sold to Mary Lee and me, its third owners in 51 years.
